On May 4, we debuted the first in a series of reader polls asking who you consider the best high school football player in Wisconsin history, with 10 primary suggestions. We received well over 1,000 votes, and here’s how people voted:
Joe Thomas was voted as the most impactful player in Wisconsin high school football history
As we said, trying to compare eras and arrive at a true list of Wisconsin’s greats is a difficult undertaking. Our aim: Identifying trailblazers and trendsetters whose influence reaches beyond championships and statistics − and whose stories reflect a lasting impact on their state.
Naturally, that means the players in question weren’t just high school standouts, though that part of the equation rates as highly important. They also went on to have success in college and the pros.
We know recency bias is a thing, so we’re not surprised that the top two choices in the voting among our 10 primary suggestions both came from the current century. Of course, a pair of first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Fame locks make the call a good one. Here’s how you voted:
Here are the other names suggested as the most impactful in Wisconsin history
With the option to select someone other than our group of 10, we received more than 150 submissions, and those we could verify are listed below.
These players received multiple votes
That’s a list with some impressive names, including two Pro Football Hall of Famers (Otto and Casper), a future Hall of Famer (Watt), a University of Wisconsin rushing legend and first-round NFL draft pick (Gordon), a former Packers player on the NFL 1980s All-Decade Team and first-round pick (Anderson), a former No. 1 overall NFL pick (Matuszak) and a number of familiar UW standouts (Clay, Moss, Wohler, Krumrie, Vanden Boom, Tauscher).
Tagge led Nebraska to two national championships and was a first-round draft pick. Brennan won two national titles at Notre Dame and later became the Fighting Irish head coach. Jirschele made our 2019 list of best overall Wisconsin high school athletes of all time. Voigt appeared in three Super Bowls with the Vikings.
These players were all mentioned once
A guy who deserves special mention: Curly Lambeau
In our quest to identify the most impactful, it counts as an oversight to omit Curly Lambeau, who graduated from Green Bay East in 1917. Sure, it’s hard to know if his gridiron work more than a century ago stacks up to the great high-school players of the modern era, but his impact on Wisconsin football can’t be disputed. He played for Knute Rockne at Notre Dame and then became a forefather of Green Bay Packers football, leaving a legacy that has impacted generations.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: How you voted for most-impactful high school football player in Wisconsin
Reporting by JR Radcliffe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
